This was such a delightful, affirming story, I wish I'd been able to read it as a child. I'm super excited to pass it along to a particular little girl with a generous imagination. ( )

A charming book. The writing was wonderfully quirky and the characters also quirky. I will admit that I enjoyed the first half better than the second half. The relationship between Charles and his ward, Sophie, was extremely charming. The second half slowed down for me but I think children would love the adventure of it. It was just that the language and quirkiness kind of took a backseat in the second half. I think both boys and girls will love this story. ( )

This is an interesting and imaginative book. I thought that the first few chapters were the best, and wish the story had continued in the same vein. The rest of the book was good, but it was pretty obvious what the outcome would be, and the story ended a little too abruptly to be truly satisfying. Overall, though, a memorable story from a talented author. ( )

Very good. But slightly disjointed, not as fleshed out as an adult novel would be. Still a lovely story tho. Cello. ( )

Read this one aloud. I loved the first third of this book. But once in Paris I had a hard time with the setup. Too harsh and not fanciful enough for me. Disbelief refused to suspend. ( )